Gay-rights advocates in San Francisco have begun organizing protests in order to pressure Amazon to avoid building its second headquarters in states that don't​...

protect people from discrimination for their gender identity and sexual orientation.</p><p>Out of 238 cities that were nominated to become the new location for the second headquarters, the list came down to 20 cities, nine of which are located in states that don't have anti-gay discrimination laws. These nine cities are: Austin; Dallas; Nashville; Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; Miami; Raleigh, N.C.; and the Washington suburbs of Northern Virginia.</p><p>To many people, this came as a surprise since Amazon is well known for supporting gay rights and anti-discrimination legislation, and even has had a gay and lesbian employee group called GLAmazon since 2005. The campaign coincides with recent conservative accusations that big tech companies like Google have a pro-liberal bias.</p><p>According to Kate Kendall, director of the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, "Putting HQ2 in a place with no non-discrimination protections seems contrary to Amazon’s stated commitments, and puts both its employees and their families at far greater risk than is necessary in some other places."</p>

Uber has formally launched Uber Express Pool after testing the new ride sharing service for over a year in San Francisco. The service will work​...

much like a bus route, asking users to walk a few blocks to a mutual pick-up point where they will be paired with other riders who are heading to a similar location. The ride will end at a mutual location that will accommodate all passengers on board, even if they have to walk a short distance.</p><p>The new service aims to optimize a passenger’s ride by giving them a quicker route and cheaper fare. Uber expects the fare to be “50 percent cheaper than UberPool and 75 percent less expensive than Uber," according to <em>The Verge</em>. The new ride sharing service is the first major new product for Uber in over three and a half years.</p><p>Uber isn’t the first ride sharing service to give customers this option. Via and Lyft Line offer similar carpooling services in many major cities for as low as $5 per ride. Uber Express Pool is launching this week in Los Angeles, Miami, Denver, San Diego, Philadelphia, and Boston.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Heavy drinking is a major risk factor for early onset dementia, study concludes

A retrospective study published in ﻿The Lancet Public Health Journal ﻿suggests that heavy drinking is a significant risk factor for dementia, especially in the early​...

onset variety.</p><p>In reaching their findings, the study authors examined the French National Hospital Discharge database records for about one million dementia sufferers from 2008 to 2013 and found that for those 57,000 cases determined to be in the early onset dementia category (i.e., age 64 or younger), about 57 percent had a heavy drinking history. </p><p>According to the World Health Organization, chronic drinking means consuming 4-5 drinks a day (three for women) on average. While most dementia patients were women according to the findings, the study also revealed that about 65 percent of early onset dementia patients were males.</p><p>The study identifies what it classifies as alcohol use disorders constituting a major risk factor for all types of dementia and with that in mind, recommends that primary care doctors routinely screen their patients for alcohol dependency. Alcohol-induced brain damage (and the attendant premature dementia death) is a preventable condition, one of the authors noted.</p>

Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world, but doesn't appear to be in touch with today's grocery store prices​...

. During an appearance on <em>The Ellen DeGeneres Show</em> on Wednesday, the Microsoft founder played a Price is Right-style game in which he tried to guess the cost of common grocery store items. Gates was asked about the prices of familiar staples like Rice-a-Roni, Tide Pods, dental floss and Totino's Pizza Rolls. The answers revealed the billionaire to be considerably out of touch. He estimated that a $1 box of Rice-a-Roni was $5 and a box of pizza rolls was $22 when it was only $8.98.</p><p>After playing the game, dubbed "Bill's Grocery Bills," Gates admitted he hadn't been to a supermarket in a quite some time. </p><p>While he may be unfamiliar with grocery store prices, he's using his considerable wealth to help the global community. He and his wife have pledged to give away $41.3 billion to help others through the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on heath services, education and the elimination of poverty.</p>

Vox Media lays off 50 amid "industry changes"

Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff announced Wednesday that the digital media giant has laid off around 50 employees, or about 5% of their workforce. The​...

layoffs come amid financial difficulties in the digital media industry -- over the past year at such agencies as Buzzfeed, Vice Media, Mashable, and Verizon-owned Oath have also laid off employees. </p><p>The layoffs in the digital media industry are influenced by Google and Facebook, which have near-monopolies over control of digital advertising. Facebook's announcement in January that its algorithms would start prioritizing posts from groups and friends over advertisements from brands and publishers is likely to exacerbate the trend.</p><p>Bankoff said he was willing to take responsibility for "bets that don't work out." </p>

Russian probe produces fourth guilty plea

to federal prosecutors in U.S. District Court, Washington D.C. </p><p>During an interview with prosecutors last November, Alex said his last contact with Robert Gates – a former adviser to President Donald Trump – was mid-August, 2014. However, he confessed to meeting again with Gates to talk about Ukraine work in September. Special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissman stated that they also traded messages on an encrypted app. Alex confessed he deleted their exchanged emails. Gates, and former colleague Paul Manafort, were indicted on charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and more tied to lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian politicians, <em>NBC News</em> reports.&nbsp;</p><p>Legal experts told <em>Reuters</em> that while the charge against Alex made no reference to the 2016 election or Trump’s campaign, it could place more pressure on Trump aides to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller. Alex reportedly signed a plea agreement last month but it doesn’t include cooperation as a condition of the deal. The judge set Alex’s sentencing date for April 3, and he could face up to six months in jail.&nbsp;</p>

War crimes commited as 250 killed in Syria's Eastern Ghouta in two days

More than 250 civilians were killed during two days bombardment of Eastern Ghouta in Syria. 106 died on Tuesday, the highest number in a single​...

day since the chemical attack there back in 2013, which killed about 1,400 people. The Syrian Observatory said 58 children and 42 women were killed, and more than 1,200 were wounded by the constant shelling.</p><p>The attack was led by Bashar Al-Assad's forces in an attempt to wipe out the last rebel strongholds in Syria, which include Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly Jabhat al Nusra. The rebels responded by firing 114 rockets and mortar rounds into Damascus, killing 13 and wounding 77 more.</p><p>There are nearly 400,000 people living in Eastern Ghouta, accounting for 94% of Syrians currently under siege. Many are in need of humanitarian aid, but even though the attack sparked major outcries across the international community against the war crimes being committed, almost no actual actions are being taken. Only one aid convoy entered the area last Wednesday so far, the first to enter since November. Amnesty International accused the world of failing to respond, saying "the international community is just watching."</p>

Next SpaceX launch will attempt to recover the spacecraft’s fairing, which has never been attempted before

The SpaceX’s spacecraft are famous for their ability to recover their first stage rockets after launch, but SpaceX is now attempting to do the​...

same with another part of the spacecraft in their next scheduled flight this Thursday - the fairing.</p><p>The fairing holds the payload at the tip of the spacecraft, and is meant to shield it from burning up during the flight while also maintaining its aerodynamic profile. The new "fairing 2.0" does something different than other fairings: instead of breaking off and burning up when reaching space to reduce weight, the new fairing splits down the middle into two parts when separating from the craft, self-orients and deploys parachutes to try and land back on earth safely, so that it can then be recovered for future flights. SpaceX will send out a boat named "Mr. Steven" to the recovery area to try and catch at least one of the pieces, or failing that, retrieve them after they fall into ocean.</p><p>The spacecraft will be carrying the Spanish PAZ satellite, as well as SpacesX's own two test satellites as part of their ambitious plan to one day provide worldwide satellite internet connection.</p>

Black Panther enjoys fifth-highest movie opening ever

Marvel’s newest all-star blockbuster Black Panther has shattered expectations for its opening weekend, setting a new record for fifth-highest movie opening in history with​...

earnings of $242 million domestically.</p><p>Just days before the film opened, movie industry experts projected it would rake in $170 million in its first weekend.&nbsp;Instead Black Panther has made more in four days than DC Comic’s biggest movie yet – the Justice League – did during its entire domestic run.</p><p>Black Panther is also the highest earning movie ever for an African-American director, and the highest earning movie for both the month of February, and President’s Day three-day weekend, according to <em>Vanity Fair</em>. Only Avengers: Age of Ultron, made more for Marvel Studios over a three-day weekend.&nbsp;Black Panther has made $427 million globally, and is expected to make even more over the coming weeks.</p>

3M will pay $850 million to settle Minnesota water contamination lawsuit

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced on Tuesday that manufacturing conglomerate 3M is set to pay the State of Minnesota $850 million in order to​...

settle an eight-year-old water pollution lawsuit. The case, originally filed by Attorney General Swanson in 2010, revolves around 3M's production of perfluorochemicals, or PFCs.</p><p>Originally used to create products such as Scotchgard, production of PFCs at 3M plants in Minnesota can be traced back to the 1950s. According to the state' suit, these chemicals polluted the ground and surface water in and around the Twin Cities.</p><p>In November, Attorney General Swanson's office claimed that a state funded expert had found higher rates of cancer and premature births outside Minneapolis due to PFCs. However, just last month the Minnesota Department of Health acknowledged that, while PFCs are hazardous, they had not been proven to have caused an increase in cancer or premature births.</p><p>In a statement to <em>The Star Tribune, </em>3M stated "We do not believe there is a PFC-related public health issue in Minnesota." Attorney General Swanson's office released a statement claiming the money from the lawsuit will "be used to finance projects which involve drinking water and the water sustainability."</p>